Real Kyper & Bourne - Willy and the Contract Factory

Episode Date: June 30, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne, and Sam McKee open the show with all the buyouts happening in the NHL before discussing some updates to William Nylander's extension negotiations. With reports that the two sides are far apart, they delve into some trade possibilities, what Nylander's number might look like and potential free agent replacements if he is traded. The guys are then joined by former NHL President, GM, and head coach Doug Maclean to give his take on all the buyouts happening around the league, what Nylander’s next contract might look like and how the salary cap has changed the financial landscape of the league. Finally, the guys wrap up their last studio show giving their thanks to the crew who help run the show and giving their final thoughts on free agency.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

This is Real Kipper and Bourne on Sportsnet 590 The Van. Here we go. Our last off the rails Friday of the season. This is it. The last YouTube show of the season too. Nick Kiprio's Justin Bourne. Derek Brandeo. Frank the tank for our

final YouTube Frank sighting back there? He got a look today. The tats are awesome. Guns out. Guns out. Guns and tattoos galore on the Real Kipper and Born Show. What is this? The US? Guns and tats everywhere.

Where is our Sammy cam now when we need it? Where's our Sammy cam now When we need it We need our Frank cam It's smoky in Toronto because of those guns Let him know Alright once again we are jam packed In our hour

We are actually Doug McClain will throw in his Friday cameo I don't know where he is It's Carmen San Diego. I have no idea there, but thanks to him this morning. He said, yep, as long as he's willing to be on, we'll fight. Thank you to our YouTube followers

throughout the whole year. There's some times when I've looked on my screen and I've seen thousands of followers and I'm like, that must be a typo because I don't believe people have better things to do than watch our show on a computer screen i guess not pal there's lots of lots of interest in these maplers really we're just uh another way to get that okay well and i thank all of them and sammy i'll give a couple of shout outs i think along the way i'll do my best and if you're nice to me if

you say something nice about me in the chat i'll give you a shout out do they dump on you sammy a lot they get after me pretty good yeah and i gotta tell you you know it's not you know next year like all this clamoring for a sam cam i gotta say the future's looking pretty bright oh you know something well i just think the potential's there that you know an agreement could be reached that potentially a camera could be placed you know i don't know the interest is there yeah they got one, they got one of those old news cameras that's lying around from City TV. Oh, no, those are too expensive. You got to get like a smartphone.

They got a tripod for an iPhone. A tripod. Get those real cheap on Amazon. For an Android, actually. Okay, where do you want to go here? Because there is a ton of news out there, including some buyouts, guys, some big names prominent names

head scratching buyouts uh there's willie nylander conversations going on i think frank cervelli we've got a clip on him on willie you guys want to start there before we go to the buyouts yeah i also wrote about that today not sure if it's live yet but i have things to say on willie perfect okay let's start with willie nylander and frank cervelli i would say with to the buyouts? Yeah, I also wrote about that today. Not sure if it's live yet, but I have things to say on Willie. Perfect. Okay, let's start with Willie Nylander and Frank Cervelli. I would say with each passing day, the trade possibility and likelihood

continues to go up. I don't know what percentage points or whatever it is, but I don't see it lingering forever. So to not radio our good friend Frank. Right. He said he was asked by J.D. Bunkus on the J.D. Bunkus podcast about, you know, if he doesn't sign, like, how long will it be?

How long will they wait on a potential trade? And that was sort of the way he led into that, and that was his answer saying that with every passing day. And it's just terrifying. I don't want this to happen. I hate that we're here, but it's starting to feel a little bit more likely. You read in the Athletic today, Jonah Siegel,

like the smoke is billowing out of Frank's guns here. They say where there's smoke, there's fire. There's smoke. Okay. I've been known to make a phone call every once in a while before the show starts i've seen that and i did talk to one team and heard a few things uh i talked to one team that said as far as they were concerned the leafs are not taking calls on willie Nylander. So that tells me one of two things, that Brad Treliving isn't taking calls on Willie Nylander

or this particular team. He's on the 10-team list. Maybe one of the few that aren't involved on it. But in saying that, there's no question in my mind or I think in anyone else's that they want this guy signed, sealed, and delivered for the next five, seven, eight years. You know, I would say there's no incentive to talk to teams, assuming they're comfortable letting the 10-team no-trade kick in, which I assume they are. You know, there's no rush here so they can work out with willie find out what they want have their back and forth and if they

need to go to teams at that point i think they can you know the one thing that stands out to me is like you know the article that uh from jonas there talked about how far they are apart the athletic you're talking about in the athletic yeah about how far they are apart you know what really strikes me more than anything is the idea that it's like all right The athletic you're talking about? The athletic, yeah. About how far they are apart. You know, what really strikes me more than anything is the idea that it's like, all right, Willie's going to cost this. The cap is going to go up. You're going to have to pay him this.

I would love to see a short-term deal for William Nylander. Like, if I'm the Leafs, I would push for that. I would push for the opportunity to pay him a little less, still allow him to get another big payday. Like, the Leafs window here with Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Primes is the next three years. Yeah, that just makes no sense if you're Lewis Gross. You're just strictly seeing it one-sided for the Leafs. I disagree.

It's a chance for Willie before he's 30 to say, now I want my eight-year deal. But I disagree too. Because now he's at his value that it's highest it's ever been he's trying to sign a contract in the vicinity of 70 to 80 million

dollars like anybody else you run the risk and I think again Landis Cog career ending injury there are no guarantees lucky for him he did land landis cog did max out i think after their stanley cup but so really won't want

to take that chance and neither will lewis gross want his client to take that chance so let me ask you this then why do we not apply that exact logic to aust Matthews? That why would he want to take the risk of Landis Gogging or why would he want to sign a two, three-year deal? You know, how is it different? Yeah. Again, Austin's going to sign a lesser deal and he will still be the highest paid guy in the league. It's apples to oranges.

They don't apply the same because they will tell Willie, if you don't fall into our slot, you will not sign here. We cannot go anywhere else. It's a different negotiation for Matthews. And with Matthews to say, if you don't fall into our slot, we'll make it bigger. We might have to make it bigger. And they will not do that for both players.

Yeah. You can only do that with one franchise type of player, and the Leafs made it abundantly clear it's Matthews. It's not Willie. Can I tell you what scares me a little bit if you trade Nylander and you're going to love this? Everything. A lot of it.

How much leverage you hand Mitch Marner immediately. If you turn around and trade Willie going into this season and break up that core, you want to spend some money on a D-man or whatever, all of a sudden next summer, Mitch Marner goes, yeah, you can't also lose me. I play the most. I get a hundred points i'm a selkie nominee i could be maybe arguably more valuable than 34 to you i mean you could whatever case sure and at that point you lose the ability to say well we can't afford to lose right now it's

like you know we're talking about they want to break you know break up the core four you consider trading mitch part of that is that you have a right winger and willie who scores 40 and gets 80 90 points if you don't have willie all of a sudden if you're marner it's like okay pay me again boys you know and that that to me is a tough spot for the Leafs. Yeah. And Marner already won that last time when everybody said that he should be an $8 million player. He argued based on his production that he should be a hell of a lot closer to Matthews than the eight or the seven, five they first started negotiating.

And they, he, he made them realize it meant 10-9. It's his greatest win as a professional. No argument. He'll win that one again if the Leafs want to resign him or he goes and becomes the highest paid player

on another team. Yeah, and I think that's what should happen, but you can't not have Willie at that point. If the Leafs do what's been rumored for seven summers now and actually trade William Nylander, which is something that terrifies me to the depth of my soul.

I hate the idea of trading him. But what should they be looking to get back in that trade? Because you're not a rebuilding team here. It's kind of a unique spot where the team is right smack dab in the middle of its competitive window don't think so much about a physical trade where nylander leaves and a player comes back you got to think of it as slots so you're not slotting a physical player back you're saying seven million you got to think of it as slots. So you're not slotting a physical player back. You're saying 7 million is what you're, you're,

you're opening up a chance to get somebody that can maybe be worth seven or seven and a half million dollars as a defenseman. So even if you traded Nylander for say two first rounders and a top prospect, you open up the salary slot to go get a defenseman. Sure, but Willie's a guy with value. You can get a human back. You got to get a player back. You're going to lose 40 goals.

You just buy a contract. You just buy a contract. It's the money. Yeah, I know. Okay, but the idea that constantly in my mind comes up a lot is brett pesci from carolina yeah you know he's a guy who needs a new contract too i think yeah and probably about what willie's been making okay so the number trade willie for uh first rounders and prospects and then sign him when you wait till he's a ufa wait till the the following year or or like this summer

could they trade willie for pesci what is pesci pesci's uh one year away from unrestricted free agency right he is i'm pretty sure yeah sam you may be able to beat me on this i'm uh currently googling as hard as i can google it hard all right when pesci or orlov pesci has one year left at 4.025 it's basically 4 million he's 28 years old um i'd sooner want a defenseman right away if you were to trade neilander this summer yeah but say say you decide it's orlov and you go sign him to a deal for, I don't know, seven times five. Yeah. Then you trade Nylander for two or three first rounders. That's not good?

Yeah, you don't want... No, it's great. I mean, it's... It doesn't work for you? I don't mind it. Are those picks going to score 40 goals for you for a team that already scored? I'm going to tell you what it's going to do, Sammy. It's going to go into next March with a lot more bullets in your gun

to go get somebody if you wanted somebody. Okay. Do you understand? It's currency. Another year after they crash into the playoffs because they can't score enough goals. Well, unless you spend those first at the deadline, as he's talking about, to turn that into something, some offense.

Yeah. And the team, they stopped scoring. They stopped scoring with him scoring in the second half here and no but he scored he was the only literally the only member of the core four that scored in the second round and i'm not just convinced that uh you know they they didn't advance in the playoffs because they didn't have enough scoring okay yeah that's become a public it's gone they they get better on the blue line you know, more, get goaltending that you can count on. You know, I mean.

Here's the thing, Kip. Get tougher. Get bigger. They scored two goals in the last seven games of playoffs. The last two against Tampa and then all five against Florida. Two goals they topped out at. They finished ninth in the regular season in goals four. And that's, so that sounds okay okay but there's 16 playoff teams so ninth out of 16 you're suddenly one of

the lesser offensive teams in the playoffs like there's no doubt to me you're lose bunting you do need some offense here and i agree that their decor needs something they need to get better they have to add there it ain't good good enough. But you also need offense. If you lose Willie, so your three offensive players that you'll have will be, obviously, Matthews, Tavares, and Marner, okay? And we talk about the burden that's been put on those guys over the past few years in terms of minutes, in terms of everything, and then burning out towards the playoffs.

So you're going to take away one of the four guys that contributes to the offense, and then how are you going to replace that offense? You have to trade them for offense. You just do, Sammy. You just do. Or you don't, and you're worse. Conversation here because it does tie into what the Leafs could do if they move willie nylander

and uh an abundance of uh buyouts yeah coming down the pike i mean blake wheeler we knew that was coming uh the players had talked about it about a week and a half ago on a internal uh uh text chain that they knew the jets players yeah players. Yeah, the Jets players that Blake Wheeler was going to get bought out. The one that's kind of surprising, a little perplexing, is the Matt Duchesne in Nashville. What did he have left? Two? No, I think he had three years left?

Three? Four? Oh, my gosh. His is a big ticket. His is a really big ticket. He's an $8 million AAV, was he not? He was, but Kip, even

with this buyout, next year, they'll take a $1.5 million cap hit for him. After that, $5.5 million. After that, $6.5 million to have him not play for you in three years. And then it's $1.5 million for five more years after that.

So it must be four left. Unbelievable. Yes. I mean, that's telling to me. Okay. Is that not pretty telling? Let me just ask you then, three players off the top of my head right now

that could help the Leafs replace some of those goals matt duchene at a fraction of the cost okay um blake wheeler at a fraction of the cost interested or max patcheretti at a fraction of the cost none of those wheeler really get me that excited so i'm talking about players i understand that could cost the leafs as little as three million two and a half million dollars yeah so i'm asking should i prepare for life without willie neilander here i don't think so i'm not convinced anything's going to happen anytime soon based on a couple of calls that i made i think he'll sign in like september i don't know anything kip no stuff i just say words but i just don't think that uh there's any real true pressure points here and you know the other thing too is i don't

i don't want to change the subject on on the possibility of cheaper goal scoring on for the leafs if willie leaves go back to that then but there is this jam in the system guys that is just bringing things to a screeching halt right now that there is no room everybody's pressed there are no dollars out there and everyone's fighting for every square inch. And the players now, there's now more pushing into free agency. I don't know what the number will be tomorrow. Maybe 100, 150 NHL free agents. And no one's going to clamor to go sign them all. No one has any money.

Nobody has any money. What a massive advantage to have cap space right now if you're chicago detroit arizona like the ability to do things for other teams you could yes pull in a whole of assets doing favors and it's happening yeah but it takes time and i you know i know we've got our free agency shows tomorrow this one may be the toughest one of them all because do we expect Orlov to sign tomorrow? I still think the top guys get dollars, right? Can you name me some top guys?

Orlov. Orlov and Shank. Bunty Boy? Bunty Boy? Goss Dispair. You know. Klingberg. Give me some top names. Yeah, I yeah i mean among d there's a couple big

boys there's mayfield and people racing mayfield's gonna resign with the islanders because they they moved out josh bailey's money to sign mayfield oh yeah okay yeah um i guess susie's available no it's not it's not a murder israel Israel. No. Are you racing for Tyler Bertuzzi tomorrow? I'm the Leafs I am. Yes. That's my number one Leafs want. And overpay. What are you paying for him?

I don't know. What do you think? Five? Four times five? Four times five? Maybe. You want goals? You want toughness?

They're scrambling. They're not thinking bertuzzi they're scratching and looking for for change under the cushion to try to take a run at luke shen luke shen will cost you at a minimum of two million dollars and depending on term he may get more no chance you go more than what two by two is still two by two listen even next year you might be okay for two million dollars for luke shen but two years from now do you want to be locked into luke shen for two two million or two two i don't right so that there is there's a jam like i said the system is jammed right now yeah so uh max patch ready lot to prove wants to come back and show everybody

can score 25 30 goals and i have no doubt he. His last season that he actually played some games, he played 39 games two years ago. He scored 20 times. And you like Wheeler as well. I think Wheeler cheap is interesting. Here's why. I think he became such a, you know, Brad Treliff was talking about, for Keith, how your second job, it's such an opportunity, whatever. Wheeler being the captain and being the culture of the Jets, it's felt felt like for a long time to go somewhere else and not have to wear the c

and to not have the salary pressure not have to be the guy i think you can get a lot of juice out of him i gotta tell you right now he ain't coming to the leafs no i think he's going to the u.s he's gonna be he's gonna be feet up in tampa i can see them league minimum tampa no you know where i see him so i'm gonna give boston no he's not going back there he's going further south than that he's going where they don't care i'll tell you this about like wheeler is that i i think for him in the last few years he he needs a strong room and that's why i don't think it'll be toronto would be a good place for him because i don't think it's a toronto would be a good place for him because i don't think it's a very strong room he needs to be picked up by a room he yes captain yes no no no

he needs to see his biggest problem in winnipeg is he thought he was the man yes and he wasn't and it had yeah i know but it it had a lot to do with the fact that you know it it got really ugly for patrick liney there and i think for him to enjoy his last few years he doesn't have to be the guy that goes around the room and decides who gets a kick in the ass and who needs a pat in the back for sure you know i you know i'd give wheeler three times three sure oh sammy gave me a thumbs down on that i didn't want it didn't want the contract but he just needs to go and play and be a good bottom six guy that can play the power play he needs to be cory perry for the next two or three years i love that iteration of wheeler's career he could do it he could turn that page i don't

know if he's smart as is cory perry though perry's a legend let's give him credit where it's due all right let's welcome him in for the last time to completely throw our show in the ditch doug mclean how'd you like that intro i've been told that i love. I've been told it's my last show before, but I was told after my last show. Oh, really? Well, we're squeezing one more out. I wish they would have told me before, and then I wouldn't have done the last show.

All right. So we got to start with the Leafs and Brad Tree Living and where he goes with his top two scorers of Nylander and Matthews. And, you know, Mac, I was just talking about the system being a little jammed up right now. No dollars, tough scenario. Usually this time of year there's winners and there are losers. Either, you know, it's set up well for the players or it's set up for the owners.

This is the first time it feels like to me that there are two losers right now, the player and the team, because both of them seem to have handcuffs on them. Remember when we used to say that the middle guy is going to get squeezed out of the NHL? Middle guy is going to get squeezed out because of the salary cap. And all of a sudden I'm watching the $8 million guys get bought out like it's candy at a corner store. It's unbelievable. $8 million guys holding 50% of salary, buying out $8 million guys.

It's mind-boggling to me. So everybody's getting squeezed. Yeah, you're right. It's cap management. We've got all these geniuses that are the best cap managers in the league, which is really addition and subtraction. And all of a sudden,

every team's in trouble with their cap. Seriously, what is going on? I love it. I love the minimizing. All these guys are these cap gurus. It's like gurus, you're a human abacus. You're just a calculator. Guess what?

You're a cap genius. Oh, you send a guy to the minors. Oh, wow, that's cap genius. Yeah. Oh, my God. It's hard on the head. They're the stars of the teams right now.

And that's why every... And look where we are. Just said it to start the show. Everybody's in trouble. And they're the stars of the show. Oh, my God. Which one surprises you most? Wheeler, Yamamoto, Duchesne? Well, Yamamoto catches me a little off guard.

I know he had a tough year and, you know, young guy. So obviously the deal was Stevie Y wanted the defenseman. So Kenny made him take Yamamoto y wanted the defenseman so he had kenny made him take yamamoto to get the defenseman you know that that's had that's what the deal was i guess that that's what it certainly looks like and i'm surprised costin's the forward right costin the forward i meant yeah that's who kenny wanted so he takes yamamoto to make it happen so i'm just caught up here wasn't yamamoto going to be the guy that was going to be conor mcdavid's winger a couple of years ago what's happened to this kid you know what where's it gone wrong for a top young player that this is where his career is today. Doug, what do you think about overpaid?

You know, that's what it is. He's overpaid. Yeah. Expectations and too much money too soon. The, um, what do you think about? So like Minnesota recently bought out Parisian suitor and then they went on to have value for other teams the same way that Duchesne and Johansson are about to be bought out. What do you think about just getting these guys out of your dressing room?

If you know you're, you want to start over with these guys, just doing it, you know, before just, instead of forcing it for a few years and kind of letting it all just play out? Well, you know what, we knew it was coming in Minnesota because it was an ongoing problem in the room with those two guys running their dressing room. And when Garen went in, he made the decision.

I'm coming in here as a GM, but before I take the job, this is what we have to do to make it right, to get back on track in Minnesota. And they've paid a price for it with their dead money on their cap. It's cost them, but they've made the move. Look, do Shane. Look,

it's pretty bizarre. David Poyle gets a standing ovation and he's had a great career. David Poyle had a great career. And yet his two latest biggest signings, other than Forsberg were do Shane and Johansson. And they're both guys that are being bought out. The first day trots is on the job because they were horrendous contracts

and horrendous deals. And we said it when it happened, Nick. Remember talking about those deals when they happened? What is going on here? So, you know, you get in trouble with the cab because you sign and it's

pressure to make the decision to sign them but you get caught with bad deals and don't think the Leafs aren't moving into that territory right now if they're not real careful they've already got it with Tavares and they better be careful with the next signing because they're going to be in the same boat we're talking to doug mcclain former president and general manager national hockey league uh mac uh we were talking about the potential of nylander overpricing himself and if in fact that the leafs had would have to move him would you see a scenario where a patcheretti a wheeler yamamoto would come in and fill in some secondary scoring? Well, you know, I mean, you know, somebody said to me the other day,

I mean, one of the biggest good things that happened to Carolina was, you know, Patrick Eddie couldn't play, you know, and a great thing that happened to Vegas. He can score, Mac. He can score when he's healthy. Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick. You haven't been a fan of Patsy Reddy for 10 years. Listen, you know when I wasn't a fan? I'll tell you when I wasn't a fan.

When they try to convince me out of Montreal that he's a captain and a leader. That's what I didn't agree with. You're bailing out a little on this one. No, I'm not. He's a goal scorer, Mac. It's my last show. I don't want to get fired. I don't want to get fired. I'm letting you off the hook on this one. No, no. He can score, Mac. The man

can score. Secondary guy. He's a secondary guy now. That's what you're saying. That's what I'm saying. He can score. I don't see it as a bad thing. What about Tyler Bertuzzi?

Is that going to cost you five and a half? I don't know, but why wouldn't you try to get a real player? Maybe have a chance to win the cup. That's what I'm saying. I think if I'm Brad Trelew and I'm trying to look at that type of situation versus looking at a Pacioretty.

You're giving up maybe 15 goals. They're not going to score 40 like Willie, but can they get you 25? Probably. And then it maybe gives you a chance to get a defenseman too that you need if you're gonna bingo have any chance of any success in the playoffs how do you prioritize their

what they need here doug like they they didn't score enough last year enough but they still don't have look okay i i'm watching the playoffs guys i watch edmonton and vegas series it's one of the few series I watch pretty close. Vegas, and I said this to Nick the other day, Vegas don't win that series if it's not for Petro Angelo. Petro Angelo was the difference maker in that series, plus the goaltender versus Skinner. That was the two things that happened in that playoff.

Petro Angelo took charge of the series physically. It was a disaster in Edmonton, and the kid in Vegas played well. So I'm looking at Toronto. They haven't got the big horse still on the back end, and they haven't got goaltending. Who's going to play? What are they doing in goal? So they've got to make some big, tough decisions

so they can fill critical holes that's all well and i guess a lot of these decisions it comes down to how much money they're going to give william nylander and austin matthews on their next deals where how do you think those are going to shake out oh i mean look he's what's he won 14 and a half million 15 million uh i mean that's frightening to do that and for a guy that hasn't hardly won a playoff series one one playoff series in his career he's been a great player but oh man that's a tough one to swallow and the same with willie neilander they're both very good players but they're both going to be overpaid and if they're both overpaid and taveras is overpaid

how do you build a team simple as that the the sense up until this point for for brad tree living um according to our um barometer of leaf nation sam Sammy McKee, is just, they're running a back-mack. David Kampf. Does Brad need to shake it up? Well, you know, he's got to shake it up. When you come in, you can't just do the same old, same old. But maybe, maybe we're going to see, you know, some other teams weak and maybe Tampa Bay won't be as good.

Now they're blaming. I see Al Murray's being blamed. God, he won them two cups that he gets fired. Like what the hell is going on in Tampa Bay? But anyway, you know what? I think it's the same old, same old. It's the same old thing. Can't buy out guys and admit to your mistakes and you know try to fix it that way what can you do what options can you do that's the that's the scary part but i'd be trying to change it up 100 brad has got to try to change it up because this team

is not built for the playoffs and the and they don't have good enough goaltending and their blue line's not good enough and we've said it for two or three years Kyle Dubas didn't do it didn't fix it he tried a few times but it didn't work and now Brad's going to be in the same boat if they don't make some big tough. And we've talked for four years that the guy to trade is probably probably the easiest guy. Yet this kid played really well this year. He played really well this year, boys. But he's not trading Mariner.

You're not trading Matthews. So what choice do you have? So there are some interesting other things happening around the league, and I'd love to get your opinion on what chicago's done in signing cory perry to a one-year four million dollar deal same with nick felino okay hold on for a second hold on before you answer that did you see kyle davidson get interviewed in nashville with by a reporter who had no idea who he was. Did you see that? That reporter could have been me because I wouldn't know who Kyle Davidson was. Okay, fair enough. But could you just imagine Newport agents

who represent both Corey Perry and Nick Foligno watching that video with Kyle Davidson with his hat turned around, looking like he just came from a frat party. That's the moment when Newport looks at Corey Perry and says, I know where you're going. I'm getting you $4 million, buddy. Yeah, I agree. And then I love the fact they're bringing in veteran leadership

and Foligno and Perry. I mean, but what about John Tavares and Patrick Kane? Did I just, I mean, I just shake my head when I see. Taves, Jonathan Taves. Yeah. Jonathan Taves and Patrick Kane. I'm thinking, what is going on here? But anyway, I just like Nick.

I love Nick Folignoino i really love nick felino but he has a hard time playing now i'm sorry he does he had a hard time playing in toronto he's a little better he had a little bit of a rebound this year but he has a hard time playing and cory's cory but four million dollars like isn't cory perry a one million dollar player was that the idea it's like you're one million to the floor well for me it's just like if you come play for a team that's obviously bad we'll pay you to be on the bad team and help conor bedard along then we'll retain 50 percent trade the deadline to a winner and who's picking him up at two million dollars i'm on this salary cap era that's tough it's true that's true they may have priced themselves out of even retention trades. I guess I would have tried to maybe give them each $2 million

and maybe try to bring in a real player, you know, somebody that might be available that's a real player that might be able to help you for a number of years. Those days have gone, though, I guess, you know. Look, guys, I tell this story all the time. I had to buy out Andrew Cassels at $950,000, okay? Spread it over two years. And my owner snapped.

He could not figure out what I was doing buying out a player. And all he screamed at me was, I'm paying a guy for nothing. I'm paying Andrew Castles $450,000 a year for two years to sit out. You made a huge mistake. And I'm looking at the $8 million and the $10 million, and I'm thinking, oh, my God, poor Mr. McConnell. If he was alive today, oh, it'd be scary. Anyway.

Usually tomorrow, UFA, before we let you go, fairly active. Is this one going to feel much differently tomorrow? Yeah, I think it's going to feel different. You see the Duchesnes and the Wheelers and these guys all of a sudden floating out there. I think it's different. The money is all I ever, all the, the only conversation we ever have about hockey today is a salary cap. And I'm so sick of talking about it. I'm so sick of who has cap space. All of a sudden,

Barry Trotz is a genius because he's got 14.2 million in cap space. And yet they're paying, they're going to have how many millions? They got tourists on dead money. They got Johansson on dead money. Now they got to Shane on dead money. Like it's mind boggling to me. And that's all we ever talk about. And this is Batman's new NHL cap talk. Period. That's all we talk about. The genius capologist who have got every team in trouble. Good job, boys. Oh, my gosh.

Future Penguins GM Brandon Pridham would be hurt by all this. He didn't drive it into the ditch there. He just kind of just went right over the cliff. He turned into the other lane for a head-on collision. I had a grade 8 kid come into Columbus and sit with me one day on student day and ask me if I needed math to do my job as president and GM. And I said, yeah, you really need math. I have to be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and percent.

And anything more than that, I take it down the hallway to my chief financial officer, and I let him deal with it. Today, you need math, but you've got to take it to the cap deal with it. Today, you know, you need Matt, but you got to take it to the capologist's office. Yeah, great. I would have loved to seen you president of a team today with a capologist. No, I'm too old for that.

I'm too crusty and old for that. You know what, I'm going to leave this show and I'm going to the fireworks just three miles down the beach here to Borden PEI and watch the fireworks. But first, before I do that, I'm going

to the Lone Oak Tavern and I'm going to have a few beer to celebrate all these great capologists in our game and Gary Bettman's cap. I love it. Be careful. There's always a viral video, Sammy, of a family with fireworks.

Did you see that video? Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. And then it goes into a car, and it's just a disaster. I'll text it to Doug after. The point of it, be careful, Mac. So I'm fired. I'm fired.

Today's my last day, right? Uh, no, we were, um, we're giving you some time off. Yeah.

You can enjoy your summer, Doug. Well, we'll see you training camp. Okay. Cause, because I did a podcast yesterday, by the way,

guys with podcasts, stop phoning me. Okay. They drive me crazy. All of a sudden, cause I'm free. They all want me on their podcast. The guy asked me yesterday what I was getting paid to do the

Bourne and Kiprio show. And I said, you know what? Yeah, I heard they're doing that. I'm like a star. I don't divulge my salaries because I'm too embarrassed to say what they're saying. We're glad. We're glad.

Pay you in kindness. Put that on the list of the things that you should be embarrassed about. And listen, happy Canada Day. And look, thanks a lot for having me on this year. It's meant a lot to me. Yes. I think it's helped my career. It's helped my career.

And I really, really appreciate it. Okay. One more. I'll let you plug your book then off of that. Oh, boy. Okay, one more. I'll let you plug your book then off of that. Oh, boy. Oh, yeah, Draft Day, which I guess Indigo has picked as the most exciting new book coming out this year. Really?

I guess no one else is putting out books? It's a slow year. Slow year. Draft Day with Doug McClain and Scott Morrison. Looking forward to it, pal. Hey, thanks for all. But one thing. Yeah.

I think Scott Morrison, I heard somebody say, what did he do with the book? And he said he took Doug McClain's words and put them in English. That's what Scott phrased it. How he helped me. Awesome. Great work, Scott. Great work.

Okay. Thanks. Thanks all season long, man. On a serious note, we've had a lot of fun with you and i know everybody uh who either downloaded or watched you on uh youtube appreciate the efforts thanks for having me guys love it love the show and get me on all seriousness doug mcclain thanks partner take care man all right that's awesome that uh we went a whole and get me on in all seriousness. Doug McClain. Thanks, partner. Take care, man. All right. That's awesome that we went a whole season with him

and didn't have to fire him. I know. That's really, I mean, a successful season. And maybe saved his best hit for last, crapping all over the cap. What a guy. Cap sucks. Great point. We're talking about a week too much.

We're not talking about who needs what or defense. The Toronto Maple Leafs who pay for the whole league, they bring in billions of dollars every year. Season tickets could cover a new player. They're like, oh, you got to sign under. You can't spend over 80 million bucks because of the stupid coyotes. It's like, wasn't there a bank that paid the Leafs $1 billion to have their naming rights on the rank?

Maybe they should be able to spend more than $80 million on their damn team. We are closing in on 20-year anniversary of the salary cap. No, we're not. Don't say that. Is it not? That sounds right. I mean, early 2000s. Okay.

Fans still don't understand it, but the education probably in the last three or four years to understand why good players are leaving their team, they're starting to understand it. And it's bad. And I am telling you, as a player that lived through fighting to stay away from it, I went through a strike and a lockout to stay away from it because the education was this is poison to the players and it's bad for

the fans yeah because you will be forced to lose good players because of it, and the middle will get squeezed. So always your stars will be looked after, and we're seeing that as they separate themselves, 10, 11, 14 million, now 15 million AAV, to Luke Shen, who came in making minimum at 750. How many years now, Kip, have we seen the Stanley Cup is won, and before a guy has gotten sober, Riley Smith gets traded?

And, you know, the Stanley Cup has been won, and before Yanni Gord can put his shirt back on, he's somewhere else. And Coleman and Goudreau. And those are favorite players of people. They're the heart and soul guys who help you through. And they don't understand. Fans don't understand why we just won.

We want this guy. He's a huge part of what we just did. And we won. And I've invested in following him. I've invested in his jersey. I invested in his fan club. I follow him. Why are you getting rid of him? And now people are really starting to understand that it's,

it's, it's not a favorable system to fans. Yeah. Can I tell you who Nashville has in the roster for next year after buying out or getting rid of two of their two stars? This is their forward group. Sissons, Trennan,

Tomasino, Parson and Novak, McCarron, Sherwood Smith. Yeah. Is there, who's they have on their team next year? One other thing too, which kind of bothers me is that yeah one more before we go to break is that somehow the the

players association and and gary never got together to find a way to just open up the cap moving just keep it moving well that was the thing with walsh coming in wasn't it there's going to be some negotiation just open it up give it some breathing room here. We've got a million. Guys, come on. No, it just needed more than that. Half of David Camp. The projections, too, are very healthy for the cap to go up significantly.

It just won't happen in the next couple of years. Why couldn't they even that out over two years then? Why couldn't they have negotiated that? I don't understand. I don't understand it either. All right, now let's go to break. We're back after the break if you get a chance uh give us a rating and review we'd love to hear from you this is our end of the season uh episode on youtube we're going to be back monday and tuesday to wrap up the weekend as well so we're not completely disappearing on you

but any chance we get any feedback from you, we'd love to hear it. And maybe a thumbs up to real Kipper and born after the break. Breaking down the biggest stories in Toronto sports, the fan morning show with Ailish for far and Justin Cuthbert, subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van.

All right, slowly closing in on our studio show for the season. Just on a side note here, also during our last segment, Bob McCowan, of course, one of the legends here at Sportsnet 590, the fan, sent out a text letting everyone know that he has had a second stroke over the last couple of weeks, and he's been in hospital ever since. He doesn't have the ability to walk or talk, but he is getting better slowly, and he hopes to get home soon and back on the podcast as quickly as possible.

So, Bob, just from everyone here at Real Kipper and Born. He's one of the main reasons I do this. Yeah, exactly. Oh, he's an absolute legend. You know, we wish you the best. Speedy recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Yeah, absolutely.

Yep, sentiment shared by all of us. And, I mean. I say, yeah, my wife does that for a living. She helps people who've been through that get better, get back to better. And, you know, there is a road to it. People do improve. And she's seen amazing results, right? Absolutely.

So, you know, take some work, but stick with it, pal. Great, great. Outside of that, you know, Derek Brandeo, hell of a year, man. I mean, I don't know what your contract situation is or if you're going to move up, if we can afford you, get you under our cap. Buy him out.

Buy him out. He's the Duchesne of radio shows. There were times when... Sorry, I make David Kampf money. There are some times you pushed the right buttons and probably more than you didn't push the right buttons. That's a successful year. It's a good batting average this year.

Really successful year. Yeah. No, we are appreciative to everyone who helped put the show on this year. You know, Jen Rolnick's not here today. Frank the Tank, David Siss. Well, we don't want to say all our goodbyes just youtube we have two more shows youtube we do yes a couple shout outs from youtube uh jeremiah maxwell of course the sports beard always

contributing on twitter and on youtube and he said uh kip jason born and sammy everyone there we love you guys have an amazing summer darren mcil said Sam is the best, so he gets a shout out. Ken S says he watches and listens daily from San Diego. I won't tell Kipper what that translates to. Donnie Does Dishes, a regular contributor, says Sammy gets some of the best guests in hockey. Gets a shout out. Cheddar Bob says we love Sammy. What's going on?

What's in this read, man? Joe McGee said Colby Barlow will be a great player in the NHL. And Colby Barlow, of course, drafted in the first round by the Winnipeg Jets for my beloved own sound attack. You also get a shout out. So there you go. All right. Not that we have to apologize to people

because I went through it with Hockey Central at noon that, you know, you get accused of being so pro-Toronto. And, you know, two years ago, it was a Toronto Maple Leafs show. And last time I checked, it's still a Toronto Maple maple leaf show yeah uh but the response of some of the rating and reviews over the last little while has been to your point that there are people all over the world that follow us now and yes we do talk about toronto and a lot of them aren't toronto fans but they're still

tuning in which to me says... I remember Steve Vallecat being like, I never miss a show. He's on the Rangers MSG broadcast. I was like, why? I think that's a small hint that we might be doing something right or entertaining. You can't talk about the Leafs without talking about everything around it. So I think we get to the NHL as best we can.

Rick Latour says, buy out sammy ever since he said point was faking it what would that buyout look like on roger's salary way less than you think guys all right any last thoughts on uh agency tomorrow? It all kicks in. What do the Leafs need? Any surprises? Housekeeping. Me and J.D. Bunkus are on standby for an emergency Leafs talk if there's any news at all. Will you do a pod if Matthews doesn't sign?

No. Will you do a pod if they sign Orlov? Yes. What about Batuzzi? That's a big one. Batuzzi, yes. What about Scott Mayfield? No.

He's staying in the island. I think the beers will still be cold if that's what happens. The Leafs need help on their blue line. They do. Yes. I expect that to be addressed tomorrow. And I do have a funny feeling that Calgary and Toronto will get together for something. I want Sadorov here in Toronto.

Six foot six. Oh, I wouldn't. He's gotten better. How about Tana? He's a player now. Everyone would love Zdorov. Tana would be great. Can he stay healthy?

Zdorov would be immediate fan favorite in Toronto. Just burying everybody. And he's sassy, too. Thanks, YouTube. Love you guys. Yep. Our thanks to all of your loyal followers on YouTube. And we hope to be

back next year with you. We'll see. We'll see how things progress. For Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Eric Brandeo, Frank the Tank, I'm Nick Kiprios. Stay safe, everybody. We'll see you next time.